Boosted by farm insurance, SBI General posts Rs 6.4cr profit

Driven by a robust growth in agriculture insurance, SBI General posted a profit of Rs 6.4 crore in the September quarter after clocking loss of Rs 26 crore in the year-ago period.
The September quarter was the second consecutive three -month period when the private non-life insurer reported profit. It had reported a profit of around Rs 50 lakh in the June quarter.
Gross written premium (GWP) grew by 39 per cent in the reporting period to Rs 1,197 crore from Rs 857.9 crore a year ago. In fact, the company's GWP expansion of 39 per cent was much better than the industry growth of 28 per cent.

SBI General is one of the participants in the Prime Minister Crop Insurance Scheme, launched on July 1.
"We reported a profit of Rs 6.4 crore in the September quarter from less than Rs 50 lakh profit which had been posted by us in the June quarter," SBI General Managing Director and Chief Executive Pushan Mahapatra told PTI here.
"We are looking at a growth of 30-35 per cent in GWP for the current fiscal over past fiscal," he said.

Growth in retail, bancassurance (BancA), agency, broking and direct segments also helped increase the profitability. BancA as a segment grew by 30 per cent in the first half (of FY17) over the year-ago period, though its contribution to overall portfolio of the company has come down to 45 per cent from 55 per cent a year ago, he said.

"Going forward, we will be having a more strategic shift towards profitable line of business," he said.
Sector regulator Irda has made e-policy mandatory from October 1. Commenting on it, Mahapatra said "we have already completed Phase-I of the e-policy project."
"We have underwritten Rs 250-crore premium in crop insurance in the first half under the Prime Minister Crop Insurance Scheme, up from Rs 69 crore a year ago," he said.
The company is participating in the scheme in States like Bihar, Odisha, Telangana, Goa and Himachal Pradesh. "We are covering over 11 lakh farmers who are working in fields measuring 13 lakh hectare," Mahapatra said.

The general insurance arm of SBI is also a participant under nuclear liability pool being managed by GIC Re.
The insurer is doing well in segments like micro insurance, retail lines, health, SME and home, he said.